Olivia's Antics

   

Olivia is growing faster than I ever imagined and there are so so many things she's doing and learning
that I dont want to forget.  I wish I could just bottle her up and keep her just the way she is for just a while.  It seems like every time I turn around (literally) she's doing or saying something new!

     Her favorite thing to do is "drop" things, although she isnt truly dropping things since it's all pre-meditated.  She even announces "I rop" (drop) before she does it.  It can be anything from her toy to her sippy cup or ood... whatever.  It's become a game.  I've tried to explain that she's throwing things, not dropping them, however, reasoning with an almost 14 month old is useless.

     She's just started walking, she can walk the length of a room without falling but now she's started trying to haul things with her.  She finds the heaviest, most awkward toy to carry and tries so hard to bring it with her.  Makes the journey much longer from point a to point b. 

     She's learned to "roar" when asked "what does a lion say?" - her reply is "roar, roar, roar" although its more of a growl.  It's adorable!  She also knows how to bark, since we have 2 loud pups, so we ask "what does a doggie say" and she barks.... a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e!

     Whenever I tell her I love her, a ka-trillion times a day, I point to my eye and say "I", then I point to my heart when I say "love" and then I point to her when I say "you" and now she's doing the same thing.  Melts my heart!

     She is in love with our 2 dogs.  Whenever they walk by her she says "Hi dog" which sounds more like "Hi duh" but, I know what she means!  She touches them any chance she gets and has also learned how to play with them with their toys.  She brings the dogs their toys and even throws it to them sometimes.  A couple of days ago I turned around for a second, looked back and she was eating a dog bone.  Nice, mother of the year right here!  At least it was all natural.

     When I say "where's Olivia" she covers her eyes and hides!  Sometimes she moves her hands away quickly and other times she makes us wait and say "where's Olivia, I cant find her, Where is she?" a million times before she's ready to reveal her self.  And when she finally does, she squeels some string of high pitched words together to announce herself and is super excited.  We're working on turning that into just saying "ta-da!"

I seriously could go on and on and on for days, but for now, I'll just leave you with an adorable picture of my munchkin!


Cutest "concentration face" ever!

~Laura

This Day Last Year

I saw a great idea on Pintrest (follow me) that I've stolen and put in place at home.  It's a box of index cards or a notebook, whichever you prefer to keep track of a little something you did every day of the year.  Whether you want to document your childs first steps, if you had an amazing dinner, friends over, your kids said something cute of funny, whatever you like. 

I'm keeping ours on the dining room table and each night at dinner time I write a little something down.  I put the month and day on the top of the page and the year next to what I write.  Next year, I'll go back to the original page, be able to reflect on what happened the year prior and write something new. 

I love this idea because I can keep this going and going and going forever!  I'll always have little blurbs of what happened to remember and it gives me a chance to reflect each day and remember the small things that may eventually slip my mind. 

Having Olivia has taught me to slow down and take it all in.  I never want to forget anything that she does, says or learns.  This little idea will help me keep those memories, with specific dates, right on my dining room table. 

5 Days of the 10 Day Challenge

Once again, the weekend got the best of me, throw a holiday in there any I'm spent.  So, now I'll captivate you with my last 5 days of the 10 Day Challenge and fill you in on my 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1!

Five Foods

1. Chicken Parm - this is my go to, never fail me food to order.  It's always good, I mean, how can you mess up some good Italian Chicken Parm?  Chicken, sauce, cheese...mmmmm!

2. Fish & Chips - being from New England we are spoiled with some delicious sea food.  Fresh Fish & Chips are the way to go.  I'm not talking about the frozen fish patties (eww).  I'm talking about Haddock, Cod or Scrod, fresh from the good old Atlantic Ocean!

3. Chowder or um as we would say, Chowda! - again, New Englanders are spoiled with our amazing sea food.  Clams fresh from the ocean.  I prefer white chowder but the New England area is known for our red.  Either way, it's delish!

4. Turkey - my family usually only has this a couple times a year, but I certainly cant forget good old Tom only a few days after Thanksgiving.

5. Chocolate - how can a girl not include chocolate?!?!
 
Four Books

1. The Hunger Games - I'm reading this right now, it's really good so far. 

2. Anything by Elin Hilderbrand - she has so many good ones, Silver Girl, The Island, Barefoot - they are all equally good.  Definitely chick books.  Tales about friendship, love, children, summer etc.

3. Again, anything by Jodi Picoult - she is an amazing author.  She writes about controversial topics and her books cant be put down!

4. The Bible - this answer for me is a tentative one.  I'm trying to be more "religious" and I'm struggling.  I'm putting this answer down as sort of obligatiry.  Any suggestions to help someone who's searching for a better Godly relationship?

Three Films

1. Bridesmaids - awesome, funny movie!  This is definitely something to watch if you want something lighthearted and non emotional.

2. Step-Mom - sad and emotional.  A good movie to watch if you need an excuse to cry.

3. The Green Mile - Love this movie.

Two Songs

1. When You've Got A Good Thing, Lady Antebellum - this was our wedding song.

2. If I Could Turn Back Time, Cher - Classic song to turn up my radio and jam!

One Picture of me - hmmm - here's my attempt to get Olivia to smile for my lame iPhone self portrait!

Day 6

6 Places - lets talk about a few places I've been and a few that I would love to visit.

1. Maine - my family and I love Maine.  We took Olivia on her first family vacation to Old Orchard Beach Maine last summer.  It was awesome!

2. Arizona - I was sent to Phoenix, AZ for work in February 2010.  I went with a friend from work, I was 8 weeks pregnant and it was the most amazing trip ever!  It was my longest flight, 6 hours, and we visited so many cool places!  We saw cacti, palm trees, red rock formations in Sedona, mountains and scorpions!

3. Virginia - In June of 2009, I was sent to Richmond, VA for work and spent 2 weeks there.  This was my first time flying ever and I loved every second of it.  I worked from 7 - 3:30 so for the rest of the afternoon and evening I was able to drive around, sight see and explore!  I got lost oh so many times but thank God for my rented GPS, I was always able to find my way back to the hotel.  The Southern hospitality blew me away.  I loved the warmth I felt everywhere I went.  I had so many comversations with strangers and they never felt like strangers.  I'd love to go back!

4. Niagra Falls - I've never visited either side of The Falls but I'd love to go and see it's beauty! 

5. Italy - I'd love to travel outside of the country and experience different cultures and languages.  Italy would be amazing!

6. New York - It's so close yet I have never visited.  I'd love to shop in New York City and take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty.  I want to experience the rush of the city firsthand, ride the subway, eat a street vendor hot dog, go to Times Square, visit Central Park and go to Ground Zero. 

Someday.......

Already catching up!

I have 3 days worth of my 10 day challenge to catch up on... shame on me!



Nine Loves:
1. My family & pets!
2. Reading
3. Shopping
4. Crafting
5. Vacationing in Maine
6. Coffee dates with friends
7. Reading blogs
8. Music
9. Reality TV

Eight Fears:
1. Losing someone in my family
2. Masks
3. Car accidents
4. Spiders
5. Not being financially stable
6. Being violated
7. That I'm not a good Mom and Wife
8. Missing memories

Seven Wants:
1. My daughter to always feel loved and live a life full of happiness!
2. My husband and family to always know how much they mean to me
3. Always have enough money to provide for my family
4. A kindle :)
5. To own a little house with a big backyard, a swingset and a huge tree!
6. To always be a good friend
7. To build a better religious background and relationship with God

Check back tomorrow for #6!

~Laura

10 Day Challenge

Since I just came back to my blog, I figure I need something to keep me here, at least for the next 10 days anyways. 



Day 10 - Ten Secrets About Me
1. I love Cher.  I love her songs, movies etc - everything.  Always have and always will!
2. I try to be crafty and I get all these amazing ideas from Pintrest, but I hardly ever follow through.
3. I bite my nails.  I try to stop but it's such a nervous habit.
4. I have a bunch of online friends and we all connected through babycenter.com's cloth diaper page and we've been friends for a while now.  All amazing Mama's whom I adore!
5. I "beam" as my husband calls it, I like to listen to other people's conversations.
6. I read sad blogs and cry a lot when I think about the situations these people are in.
7. I watch Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant religiously, even though I'm 28!
8. I'm trying to find my place with God and in Church. 
9. I hate my feet.  They are big and cause me a lot of trouble when looking for shoes etc.  I wish I could have a foot job.
10. I love coffee.  French Vanilla especially.

Check back for more tomorrow!

It's been a while....

So, it's been a while, a long while.  I've been debating whether or not to get back into blogging and although I really want to it came with this strange feeling of awkwardness about how to pick up where you left off and remain consistent.  After weeks of thinking about this I figured I should probably just jump in and hope the few followers I have don't mind my blog-vacation... so here's that first awkward post. 

I'm back!

~Laura